Yes, the team could have matched the offer. The Kroenke family has enough cash that they aren’t going to be outspent by virtually anyone. But it wouldn’t have been a wise business decision.

In fact, it would have been foolish.

Just because you have the money to spend on something doesn’t mean you should do it. And just because someone else is willing to pay a high price for something doesn’t mean it’s worth that much.

Kroenke understands these principles. He proved it by letting his best friend in basketball walk out of the Pepsi Center.

There are a few NBA general managers making the type of money that Ujiri is now being paid in Toronto. But most of them have either won championships (Danny Ainge in Boston, R.C. Buford in San Antonio, Mitch Kupchak in Los Angeles or Pat Riley in Miami) or enjoyed a long run of success (Donnie Walsh).

Ujiri has done neither.

Tim Leiweke, the CEO and president of the sports conglomerate that owns the Raptors, had to do something to kick-start the franchise. Mired in a downward spiral, one that has led the franchise to the brink of irrelevance, he had to make a splashy move in an effort to right the ship.

The Nuggets aren’t in that position. They don’t have to be foolish. They don’t have to throw money at an ugly situation in the hopes it will solve the problem.

Yes, it would have been great to keep Ujiri in Denver, continuing the work in progress that is the Nuggets roster. But it only made sense if the price was right.

You both have the wrong attitude. The pressure should be on Ujiriri to do what Colangelo failed to do. That's why he was brought in. He was not brought in to do the same thing as Colangelo. "Fire his ass if he says a five year rebuild" should be the attitude.

It's new ownership and everything. You seriously think it's ok if they do the status quo??

A 5-year rebuild would be the exact opposite of anything Colangelo ever attempted to do. Like Matt stated, Colangelo kept referring to "rebuilding", but never actually did it.

I think the problem with the thinking in the above article is they are overlooking marginal benifit.

This is a multi-million dollar industry, that spends tens of millions on player's contracts, and likely well over a 100 million on total costs.

Overpaying a GM by a million or two is irrelevant. The marginal benifit to an 'above average' GM could be huge even if the GM is payed like one of the 'best' in the league.

I'm not convinced the Kroenke's are properly understanding value in this situation. Rather are just being cheap. The only way it makes sense is if they feel Masai is easily replaceable (average or bad). But given his history, even if short, I think the risk reward scenario of 'overpaying Masai' is well worth the potential reward.

I have probably said this before (and reiterated by many a Nugget fan)....that the Kronks were willing to pay MU possibly 1.5 mil. So, to jeopardize the trajectory of the improvement of their basketball team's success in the next few years because of 1.5 mil. additional per year seems like a most stubborn adherence to some business principle orthodoxy I fail to understand. As mentioned above this would be about 1% of the total basketball expense budget. But then again I am also unfamiliar with managing part of the Kroenke WalMart fortune or the NHL Avalanche or the St. Louis Rams. Save your millions and the billion will take care of itself must be a truism.

And if Denver regresses while Toronto steps forward(which will happen) they will have a PR nightmare.

Toronto paid based on potential. When GM's do this for players it's applauded and they're spending far more then $3M, usually its $8-15M/yr; that's ok but the guy who has the most important job on the team, it's not "ok" to do this? The article sounded like Nuggets damage control.

He said that he's going to keep his team small, so the number of positions that he is going to hire is not a lot. I don't think it's going to take that long because he has probably already contact them, or will be contacting them within the week.

The next couple of weeks is going to be required to re-assess the exit interviews from months back, work with casey on team identity, and to establish the new vision for the raptors. I believe Leiweke will comment on the rebranding movement after all of that team assessment work is completed.

He said that he's going to keep his team small, so the number of positions that he is going to hire is not a lot. I don't think it's going to take that long because he has probably already contact them, or will be contacting them within the week.

The next couple of weeks is going to be required to re-access the exit interviews from months back, work with casey on team identity, and to establish the new vision for the raptors. I believe Leiweke will comment on the rebranding movement after all of that team assessment work is completed.